Page 7 - AfrOil Week 02 2021

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Beijing, for example, has recorded its coldest the refinery has been modernised. Cairo-based
weather since 1966. Afreximbank is helping to arrange the financing,
Purchasers across East Asia have been forced the news agency said.
to ramp up their imports as they have found The 210,000 barrel per day (bpd) Port Har-
existing LNG purchases and gas storages to be court facility and NNPC’s other refineries in
insufficient. At the same time, unplanned pro- Kaduna and Warri were built in the 1970s and
duction outages around the world – including are in need of extensive repairs and modernisa-
in Australia, Malaysia and Qatar – have exacer- tion. Their poor state means they can only oper-
bated the situation. ate at a fraction of their combined 445,000 bpd
S&P Global Platts reported on January 11 nameplate capacity.
that the JKM benchmark had hit an all-time NNPC has made a number of unsuccessful
high of $21.45 per mmBtu ($593.31 per 1,000 attempts to rehabilitate the facilities over the
cubic metres) on January 8, while the West India years. Last year it similarly tried to partner with
Marker (WIM) benchmark set its own record oil traders, producers and engineering firms to
of $17.925 per mmBtu ($495.81 per 1,000 cubic fund refurbishment. But it gave up after a year
metres). of fruitless talks. Egypt enjoys a
Soaring prices led one Indian LNG importer The company’s latest effort comes amid a
to predict that throughput levels at some of the squeeze in global capital as a result of the coro- surplus of natural
country’s terminals could fall by 10%-12% in the navirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Investors also
first quarter of 2021. have less appetite for the commodities market gas supply and
The source told Platts that imports could because of weak prices.
drop to 5.5-5.7mn tonnes from 6.5mn tonnes in Over in Egypt, the central bank has launched wants to give gas
the final quarter of last year. an EGP15bn ($950mn) initiative to support a greater role in
“The quick change in the market dynamics motorists that want to convert their vehicles to
has taken Indian LNG buyers by surprise. A lot run on natural gas. its economy
of Indian buyers can’t afford to pay these prices. Egypt enjoys a surplus of natural gas supply
We will see demand destruction across various and wants to give gas a greater role in its econ-
sectors,” Platts quoted an unnamed senior LNG omy. The government eventually wants to see
industry official as saying. “Whatever little avail- as many as 1.3mn gas-fuelled cars on the road,
ability there is in the global spot market, China primarily by converting existing vehicles that are
is taking those cargoes.” over 20 years old. This would reduce pollution
levels in Egypt’s largest cities, reduce transport
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping costs and bring down the country’s fuel import
Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for bill.
NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor. The central bank’s initiative will see loans
with a 3% interest rate provided through banks
DMEA: Nigeria’s refining revamp to individuals seeking to convert their gaso-
Nigeria’s state-owned NNPC is negotiating a line-fuelled cars to use natural gas as well. The
$1bn prepayment deal with trading firms to financing is available for between seven and 10
raise funds to modernise its largest refinery in years.
Port Harcourt.
According to Reuters, the prepayment funds If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
would be repaid over seven years through deliv- the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East,
eries of crude oil, as well as refined products once then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor.

Week 02 13•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7